MUMBAI: Singer Liam Payne says he was shoved around by Jay Z's bodyguard when he tried to meet the rapper.

Speaking as a guest on the ‘Graham Norton Show’, Payne said he once tried to befriend the star while they were at a media event in New York, reports mirror.co.uk.

The One Direction star said: "I went to lean in to speak to him, but you can't lean in to speak to Jay Z. You're not allowed to.

"His bodyguard just shoved me and I went flying across the room. And I was like, ‘Right I'm just going to sit over here... Thank you, that's enough'. Very awkward moment."

Payne didn't have much better luck when he tried to meet rapper P Diddy at the same party.

"I was trying to think who's the easy target in this scenario? Who's the one that you go over to say the hello?"

Payne said he reached out to shake the singer's hand, but Diddy just stared at him and laughed in his face "with the longest handshake ever".

The singer added: "I'm looking at Diddy's eyes like, ‘When is this going to end?'"

(Source: IANS)